Latest news with #HooverDam

Business Insider
27-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Why 99.5% of big projects fail
Dan Gardner is the coauthor of "How Big Things Get Done," a book that explores why so many billion-dollar projects, from nuclear power plants to Olympic Games, go wrong and how some manage to succeed. Drawing on data from over 16,000 megaprojects, Gardner and his coauthor Bent Flyvbjerg reveal the startling truth: Only 0.5% of big projects are delivered on time, on budget, and with the promised results. Business Insider interviewed Dan Gardner to learn about some of the world's most high-profile projects, like the Sydney Opera House, which soared 1,400% over budget, and the troubled California High-Speed Rail, which is expected to cost over $100 billion and hasn't moved any passengers yet. He also spotlights the rare successes, like the Empire State Building and the Hoover Dam, to show what's possible when projects are built on smart planning, strong leadership, and modular thinking.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Muskingum River reopens to navigation; May 31 celebration includes free rides, family fun
COLUMBUS — The Muskingum River Parkway is set to fully reopen for navigation for the first time since 2020. According to an announcement from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the reopening of Rokeby Lock No. 8 will restore full navigational access from Marietta to Zanesville. A celebration is planned for 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 31 at McConnelsville Lock No. 7, 698 E. Riverside Drive, McConnelsville. The event will feature free pontoon boat rides, offered by ODNR's Division of Parks and Watercraft staff. Pontoon boat rides are weather and water-level dependent. In the event of high river levels due to recent rainfall, rides may be canceled for safety. 'Restoring navigation to the entire length of the Muskingum is about more than boats on the water,' said ODNR Director Mary Mertz in the release. 'It's about preserving a remarkable piece of our heritage and celebrating the communities and families who've cherished this river for generations.' The Muskingum River State Park is home to one of the nation's last remaining systems of hand-operated locks, according to the announcement. Ten of the 11 original locks remain in operation, allowing recreational boaters to travel from Marietta to Zanesville. The locks and dams were constructed in the 1800s under the direction of West Point graduate Major Samuel Curtis. By 1841, the system connected to the Ohio and Erie Canal, ushering in an era of prosperity for towns along the waterway. Stockport Lock #6 is another stop along the Muskingum River that is open to boaters. In 2001, the system was designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, placing it alongside American engineering marvels like the Golden Gate Bridge, the Empire State Building and Hoover Dam, according to the announcement. With navigation from the Ohio River through Zanesville Lock #10 restored, ODNR invites Ohioans to rediscover this historic waterway and experience the same scenic beauty and cultural richness that once drew settlers, traders and riverboat pilots to its banks nearly two centuries ago. This story was created by Jane Imbody, jimbody@ with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at or share your thoughts at with our News Automation and AI team. This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Restoration of lock will allow boaters to travel Muskingum River again

ABC News
02-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
The Atlas of Drowned Towns wants to recover lost stories buried underwater
They are among humankind's most impressive constructions, yet deep beneath the surface of some of the world's biggest dams lie the remnants of forgotten towns. Once home to vibrant, remote communities, many of these towns were submerged underwater to make way for vast 20th-century infrastructure projects. Houses, town centres, petrol stations and theatres were moved or lost, stirring mixed feelings in the neighbourhoods that stood in the way of large dams. Sunday Extra presents a lively mix of national and international affairs, analysis and investigation. The wave of building was not limited to America, but took place in Australia too. And when locals moved elsewhere to make way for construction, the towns they lived in flickered out of existence. Eventually they passed out of memory and into myth. But now a small team of people is posing the question: could those lost stories be brought back? Forgotten communities submerged underwater Bob Reinhardt, an associate professor of history at Idaho's Boise State University, is the founder of The Atlas of Drowned Towns, a special project dedicated to mapping communities that have been buried underwater in the US and around the world. What started as a personal interest in submerged towns turned into professional study and eventually a mission to restore them to living memory. His research began in the American west, where massive hydro-electric, irrigation, and flood control dams have been built. Before: A birdseye view of Detroit, Oregan before it was inundated to make way for a dam. . . After: In the 1950s, the town was submerged under water. . . Instructions: Use left and right arrow keys to control image transition Before and after images SLIDE A birdseye view of Detroit, Oregan before it was inundated to make way for a dam. / In the 1950s, the town was submerged under water. Spurred on by New Deal funding and the Hoover Dam's completion in 1935, the era of From Sacramento to Columbia and Colorado, Dr Reinhardt says dam building agencies went to great lengths to "scrape the ground clean", a process that resulted in towns in their path being deliberately moved or eliminated. "They didn't want stuff to float up or they didn't want boats to hit them," he tells He estimates hundreds of communities in America and globally were displaced in the process and hopes that recovering their stories will reveal the historical significance of these marginalised places. America's drowned towns Detroit might conjure up images of Cadillacs or Motown Records, but it also happens to be the name of a former town in western Oregon. Reportedly settled by pioneers from Michigan in the 1890s, "Old Detroit" was a tiny, one-street village with a boarding house, local theatre and petrol station. Before: The petrol station in Detroit, Oregon before it was demolished. . . After: Little remained of the town after it was moved. . . Instructions: Use left and right arrow keys to control image transition Before and after images SLIDE The petrol station in Detroit, Oregon before it was demolished. / Little remained of the town after it was moved. In 1953, it was cleared, along with over 3,000 acres of land, by the US Army Corps of Engineers to make way for the construction of the Approximately 60 buildings were relocated, along with the town's entire population, to a settlement nearly 1 kilometre northwest. The town's remains are still Old Detroit was cleared, along with over 3,000 acres of land, in 1953. ( Supplied: The Atlas of Drowned Towns ) Dams are critical to supplying power and fresh water for neighbouring communities. But like all infrastructure projects, they come at a cost to the people in their path. The impression Dr Reinhardt and his team were left with, after collecting oral histories from elderly folks who'd lived in Old Detroit and their descendants, was one of loss. "[In Detroit, Oregon], which is my wife's grandmother's hometown, the spectrum of responses [to the dam project] ranged from disgruntled grumbling … to enthusiasm," says Dr Reinhardt. "Often in many, many cases, there are people saying: 'Well, this is a sacrifice that we're making for the greater good. This needs to be done. And we understand our role'.'" Recollections were punctuated by romantic notions about what the community used to be like and a sense of being part of something bigger. "We [invited] people to come in and bring photographs and diaries and journals and newspaper articles and artefacts that they have, and then we scan all of it, and then we eventually upload it to the database for the website," he says. "The sense that I got from all of those things that people brought in was … [that] this place was a complex community. "Some people didn't get along with each other … It was a real community." While the town still physically existed, residents explained how intangible qualities like memories, feelings and certain sights were lost in the move. First Nations communities displaced by dams American Falls in Idaho is another forgotten town that was submerged to make way for a dam. The first recorded permanent settlement in 1800 was located on the west bank of the Snake River, which stretches from Wyoming through to the Idaho-Oregon border. Then in 1888, the town was moved to the opposite riverbank. In 1925, American Falls moved again after construction began on a dam of the same name. In 1925, American Falls became the United States' first town to be entirely relocated. ( Getty: Keystone View Company/FPG ) An estimated But the biggest impact was on the Shoshone-Bannock people and the Fort Hall Reservation, which sits between the cities of Pocatello, American Falls, and Blackfoot. "They gave up some of their land for the construction of the American Falls Dam," Dr Reinhardt says. In newspaper articles and other period documents that he found in his research, the Shoshone-Bannock people are portrayed as "pleased to be giving up more of their reservation", he says. "[But] reading between some of the lines and some of the speeches from the dedication of American Falls, there's a real sense of loss, and I would say buried betrayal. "We're talking about the 1920s so it's not as though the Shoshone-Bannock could get up and say, 'We've been betrayed by the American government, this is a gross violation of our rights'." Photo shows Image of Dr Karl on a pink background and Listen app logo Dr Karl knows the best app for free podcasts, radio, music, news and audiobooks … and you don't need to be a scientist to find it! An ongoing consequence of the dam's construction is that whenever the reservoir is close to full, it impacts other parts of the Fort Hall Reservation. "Fort Hall is where some Shoshone Bannock continued to do their ranching, and so even to this day, they're continuing to give up land," he says. "That's a big part of the story of the construction of large dams in the American West in the 20th century. And it's part of a bigger story of this longer history of displacement [and dispossession], whereby these places were seen by the government and dam-building agencies as [empty] because native peoples were forced to leave." Today, a 60-metre grain silo deemed too difficult to move is one of the few physical reminders of old American Falls. "You can go to Google Earth and you can see the shadow of this thing in the water. It's pretty spooky and fascinating," Dr Reinhardt says. Australia's forgotten towns While the Atlas is focused on America, it has recently broadened its brief to include other countries. Australia features on the map five times. In the 20th century, Adaminaby, Jindabyne and Talbingo were submerged to create large reservoirs as part of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme. The agricultural town of Old Adaminaby in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains was inundated in the 20th century. ( Supplied: Anne Kennedy ) Residents displaced by the scheme were compensated financially, but locals say the experience of getting kicked out of their home was like nearly being "torn apart". "You often think about where you were brought up, but it's different than moving a house," Bruce Stewart, who grew up in Adaminaby, "Getting kicked out of your own town, it's a different feeling altogether." Photo shows A historic photo of a house on wheels. The nation-building Snowy Hydro scheme came at a huge cost for the people of Old Adaminaby, some of whom are still lamenting their loss more than 65 years later. The rural town of Bonnie Doon, north-east of Melbourne, is another example. In 1953, houses and buildings from the original town site were moved to higher ground after the damming of Lake Eildon. "Going across the bridge in Bonnie Doon after really dry summers in the 80s and 90s, you can still see the old road outlines [below the water]," Why explore the history of lost towns? The erasure of towns to make way for large reservoirs is often viewed by dam-building agencies as a clinical process, but Dr Reinhardt says there is an inherent spookiness to their disappearance. More stories from Sunday Extra: "I was attracted to this [project] in part because of my wife's grandmother's story [and] I continue to be attracted to it because of some of the questions, the intellectual and academic questions. But there is a mystery [and] a romance [to these submerged towns]," he said. Delving into their history recalls "the value of inundated communities and the perspectives of people who call them home" as well as the "persistence of such places and people", Dr Reinhardt "For me, it really is a question of, how did people leave a place they loved?" When former residents of submerged towns or neighbouring communities get together to make sense of dam displacement, the answers they give to this question are far from simple. Each person's experience is unique, as is their relationship to the old communities. "To create a space where people can have those kinds of connections, and for their stories to be valued is really cool," Dr Reinhardt says. Want to go beyond the news cycle? Get a weekly dose of art, books, history, culture, technology, politics and more with the ABC Radio National newsletter Your information is being handled in accordance with the Email address Subscribe


Bloomberg
07-03-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Allegra Stratton: Can Starmer Be a Salesman and a Statesman?
It's unusual in our daily diet of disruptive news to read such unabashedly upbeat coverage as we have had today about European stock markets. After the German chancellor-in-waiting's decision to unleash a Hoover Dam of defense spending, the euro is on for its best weekly run since 2009 making it, according to our reporters, 'one of the most consequential weeks in years for European investors.'
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Bob Mould Thrashes Toward Enlightenment on ‘Here We Go Crazy'
The 15th album from Bob Mould opens with the 64-year-old indie-rock icon searching for serenity in a world on fire. Over slow, spaciously grinding guitar-pop, he finds himself alone on a mountain, surveying an expanse of natural beauty despoiled by strife and terror — warplanes in the sky, cities in collapse. But he's above it all: 'I'm so far away from here/Did you see me disappear,' he wonders as the song lifts off into a crescendo of beautiful chaos. For longtime Mould-watchers the inward-odyssey he maps out here will be familiar — after all, this is an artist who changed the face of American underground rock with Hüsker Dü's 1984 double-album Zen Arcade, a psychedelic thrash epic about a kid who flees a broken home to find love and freedom. Fans could also go back to 'Hoover Dam,' a similarly majestic moment from Copper Blue, his wonderful 1992 album fronting Sugar, in which he stood high on a national monument 'on the centerline/Right between two states of mind.' More from Rolling Stone Bob Mould Returns With New Album 'Here We Go Crazy' Bob Mould and Fred Armisen Help the 8G Band Sign Off 'Seth Meyers' With Hüsker Dü Cover Bob Mould Celebrates Tim Walz VP Pick: 'History Is Rhyming Right Now. Listen to the Chorus' Here Wer Go Crazy wanders the same landscape of tumultuous noise and roiling emotions he's been navigating since he co-founded Hüsker Dü in 1979. Mould, drummer Grant Hart, and bassist Greg Norton brought a new language of unguarded personal honesty to an early-Eighties post-hardcore scene where the default emotions were still angst and alienation. As a solo artist, he's always worked to reach for moments of light in a world that eternally seems to be coming unglued. Recently, 2019's Sunshine Rock was a sonically and lyrically cheerful balm against tough times (he'd recently lost both his parents), while 2000's Blue Hearts lit a punk-rock torch against the Trump regime. Since then, he's taken time to reflect, noting in a press release accompanying his first album in five years that he's been exploring the California desert. He's returned with one of his most immediately thrilling records, in the power-trio lineup he loves backed by his longtime rhythm section of drummer Jon Wurster and bassist Jason Nardoucy. On gems like 'Hard to Get' and 'Neanderthal' they nail a quintessential Mould-ian mix of pounding aggression, oceanic guitar buzz, and teaming melody. The mountainous 'Breathing Room' slows down the pace but not the drive, as the band hammers away and Mould sings about finding space to think. 'When Your Heart is Broken' rockets to the top of his canon, right up there with the Dü's 'Makes No Sense At All' and Sugar's 'Helpless' in its ability to mix effortless anthemic tunefulness with a harried feelings-first urgency. Mould's amiably snarled vocals can sometimes get swallowed in the headlong din, but the force of his meaning always comes through. There are moments that seem to intentionally call back to expand on highlights from his past. On 'You Need To Shine,' lines like 'Celebrate the moments we shared across the years/ Celebrate the laughter and the tears' can't help but evoke his 1985 Hüsker Dü classic 'Celebrated Summer.' The album's production has a bright, bracing sound that brings to mind the way Sugar balanced indie-rock tumult and alt-rock polish just as well as Nirvana or the Pixies. But he never sounds like he's going backward. It's the sense of constant growth and accrued wisdom in these songs — the honest ambivalence mixed with desire mixed with dread mixed with hope — that makes them sink in. On the tempestuously rumbling 'Sharp Little Pieces' metaphorical allusions to intrusion, erosion, and decay seem to compound the song's theme of interpersonal drama by also intimating the wear and tear of physical aging. On 'Thread So Thin,' he tells us, 'I can see forever in my rear view mirror,' against waves of miasmic distortion that might be pushing him onward and pulling him down. He closes the album with another solo guitar moment, the poetic 'Your Side,' a simple tender song about finding solace in the everyday story of getting older with someone you love. 'I'm turning gray by your side,' he sings softly. Of course, the song doesn't stay quiet for long. Pretty soon the band locks in and they're blasting away beautifully. Serene contentment? He'll take it. Slowing down? Eh, not so much. Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time